Does anyone use the D5000 for underwater photography?

[ilookold]

Hello all,

I have search this thread for other posts about this, let me know if I missed anything. I have a D5000 and I am looking for a housing, lenses, lighting and strobes. Any help would be appreciative. I am new to the photography part of diving and not real sure on how to get started. It is fustrating trying to figure all this out. It dont help me either working in a country that I cant just go and look at things in person. If anyone can point me in the right direction i thank you very much.

 

[adpfam]

Im not sure this is what you want to hear but il put in my 2 cents worth . im not sure i would want to to go to all that expense of putting the d5000 in to a case . often even the cheepest cases and strobe kits for dslr are far mor than the camera its self , i personal own a d70 which hope to replace with d300s or d700 . at present i do not take my d70 UW for that very same reason. also a a small point its place flash sync rate is only 1/200 s . UW I use a canon compact with manual flash at the time i bought it it was more economical . but i used it for about 4 years w/o any problems . However i very much miss the flexibility of dslr . i very rarely use the auto settings topside and find it a bit frustrating to not have those perks UW. to make a long story short if you are going to spend all that money to put a dslr in a case why not put a camera worthy of the extra expense . the cost generally to put d5000 d90 or d700 UW is with in a couple hundred dollars eg. ikelite . mind you some companies seem to charge more for more expensive cameras i personaly dont see the added benifit . may be start small with a compact see if you like and will be willing to spend the extra dough . i believe you are looking at a minimum of 3000 just get started with a dslr case and 1 decent strobe , my compact was about 900 w/o camera .
ps.im not try to make out your camera is crap its not its got some good reviews but your going to spend 3000 to house a 600$ camera. i hope this has not been too negitive

 

[PatW]

From an economic viewpoint, adpfam is probably right. I just checked the cost of an Ikelite case for the Nikon D5000. The cost is $1400. The DS51 Strobe is another $600. So you are laying out $2000+ for the system. Ikelite is known for making high quality, inexpensive cases. It would seem to me to make more sense to go with a more capable Nikon like the D90 if one was going to go for an SLR.

The other option would be to go with an advanced point and shoot.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

You can get some quite nice pictures with a low-end DSLR. See
the first picture on
http://www.ncups.org/sea/SEA2009/california/index.html
(you may need to go to the second picture and come back to the
first before it displays correctly).

An advantage of a low-end camera is low cost when it floods.

 

[Viz'art]

I agree with Chuck, a entry level camera will more than often have the same innards as its more expensive sibling, the controls, focusing speed and options are mainly where the higher end models would be differents,

Unfortunately, the housing selection is not as vast as higher end camera would be. as mentioned in this thread the price of the housing can causes sticker shock to many users of entry level cameras, owners of more expensive camera are less prone to this due to their initial investment being more costly from the onset, it has nothing to do about the camera being cheaply made, low end not being up to specs.

I always say that a fine camera does not make for a fine photographer, a fine photographer will be an individual that will exploit the maximum of what he or she has without overextending the limit of the camera. in the end a fine photographer will have the required skills and experience to apreciate a finer camera.

And yes, i am jealous of Linda, that is a great shot and I see nothing that would have been gained by any more "expensive or sophisticated" kit. good show!

Check the Ikelite website, they are the housing I would get for your camera.

 

[slowhands]

Hello all,

I have search this thread for other posts about this, let me know if I missed anything. I have a D5000 and I am looking for a housing, lenses, lighting and strobes. Any help would be appreciative. I am new to the photography part of diving and not real sure on how to get started. It is frustrating trying to figure all this out. It dont help me either working in a country that I cant just go and look at things in person. If anyone can point me in the right direction i thank you very much.

With this camera, you are limited to AF-S lenses, and no video. It has the same optical performance as a D90 or D300, with lower shooting rates and lower cost. If you are familiar with it and like its capabilities, I don't see why it's not a fine choice. It's just a part of the system, however; you need lenses, housing, ports, strobes too.

In brief, I'd get the Nikon 10-24mm AF-S lens for wide, and the 60mm AF-S for macro. Once you have decided what lenses to use, you can select the housing and ports.

It seems there are only two makers of housings for this camera, Ikelite and Leo. See:
List of underwater housings that turn the Nikon D5000 into an underwater camera

Since you are in a country with limited dealer support, I would suggest using a well regarded brand housing with many dealers worldwide. Ikelite has the housing, ports, strobes you need for reasonable prices with good distribution worldwide. Their part is #6801.50 ($1400 list). Ports will cost you another $300-500. A strobe setup will cost you $600-2000.

Reef, Optical Ocean, and Backscatter are all dealers who ship worldwide. I would suggest using the dealers to help you configure your system and get ports and strobes that are fully compatible with your system and your shooting needs.

 

[adpfam]

]another thing to concider is what type of UW photography you are interested of my time . i personaly spend most of my time with macro , and every once in while pull off a nice wide angle. the following examples were shot with the folloing epuip.i have a its also worth metioning i spend 90% of my dive shooting and I have a very patient buddy. i i still rarely ever get it right
canon is700 (non-DSLR) and case
sea and sea ys -27dx

 

[ilookold]

Thanks for all the info. I know I am slow to reply. I know its kinda an expensive camera to use but I already have it and would like to use it. I was just interested in some help finding out what to get for it since I am a novice. Im not worried about spending the necessary money needed to outfit the camera. I think i will be looking into the ikelite now. Seems like that really is the only company that carries things for my camera. I enjoyed looking at the pictures that were posted too. I hope to be able to take some pictures like that. Hopefully I can get all this together and ready for my next trip so I can share my pictures with everyone. Thanks again.

 

[captbillncostarica]

Hi,,,,,,,,
i also have a Nikon D-5000 that i bought last month,,,i have been thinking about putting it underwater also,,,
this is my 8th digital camera so far and i have progressed and learned a lot,,,

it was very hard to move into the digital field after so many years in the darkroom,,,i was a photographer in the Navy and also had my own Studio for commerical work ,,, i have had many other film cameras in the past,,,Nikons,Nikonos,Rolleiflex,Hassi,Canon 16mm, Kodak 16mm,etc,,, so shifted over about 8 years ago,,it was hard to do,,,,,

one thing i learned was get a good housing and a good camera and go shooting,,,

so i will follow along and see what you decide,,,,,,good luck,,,

captbill

 

[ilookold]

hey sorry i havent been on here in awhile, kinda got busy with work and forgot about this. havent been able to put much more thought into anything. i am going to get a housing for it one day. thanks again everyone for all the information.